Frontier

Product Information

I would probably rate this a mere three stars were it not for the novel story-telling technique. I'm a Neophile, so I'm always intrigued to see something in a book that I haven't seen before. If you prefer the tried-and-true, you may not like Floating Hotel as much as I did. One character is tortured. While not on-screen, there is a lot of showing that it's been/being done. Lots of bloody descriptions, the victim missing his teeth, etc. There are also murders. Welcome to the Grand Abeona home of the finest food, the sweetest service, and the very best views the galaxy has to offer. All year round it moves from planet to planet, system to system, pampering guests across the furthest reaches of the milky way. The last word in sub-orbital luxury—and an absolute magnet for intrigue. Intrigues such Why are there love poems in the lobby inbox? How many Imperial spies are currently on board? What is the true purpose of the Problem Solver’s conference? And perhaps most pertinently— who is driving the ship? Floating Hotel by Grace Kurtis follows the motley crew of the space hotel Abeona. From its friendly manager Carl to its grumpy accountant Kipple to the ever-eager Reggie, all the different staff members have their own stories to tell -- stories that weave together into a tale of rebellion against the system, an encrypted message from beyond the stars, and the mystery of who the Lamplighter is, and if they can be safely extracted before the Empire gets to them.

My favourite aspect of this novel were the characters. Whether kind and loving, or abrasive, or just downright evil, these characters were incredibly well written! The bonds that developed between them as a bunch of misfits and runaways were moving and tender. I particularly loved the development of Professor Azad, who begins the novel as someone very jaded. Smart, bold and so much fun . . . I'm officially a member of the Grace Curtis fan club' AMIE KAUFMAN What's great about this is that for every reader there's at least one point of view character they'll enjoy reading about, but at the same time it's hard to get truly, deeply invested in anyone when so little space is devoted to each storyline. In this aspect the book would have benefitted from being longer, or from focusing on fewer characters. The synopsis reads: “In the distant future, climate change has reduced Earth to a hard-scrabble wasteland. Folk are as diverse and divided as they’ve ever been – except in their shared suspicions when a stranger comes to town. One night a ship falls from the sky, bringing the planet’s first visitor in three hundred years. She’s armed, she’s scared... and she’s looking for someone.”Science fiction is a genre that I tend to struggle with, besides a few exceptions. But since I always want to get myself out of my comfort zone, I chose to request for an ARC for Floating Hotel, with its interesting premise. The story of Floating Hotel seems a bit mixed in ways that don’t seem intentional. There are the moments of “cozy”, especially when we are having a closer look at some of the characters and their interactions amongst themselves. There are the moments of the mystery and political intrigue that keep you guessing until the end. There is the puzzle set forth by the Problem Solver’s conference. These are all great stories, but it almost seems like they each could have been their own book within a series set on the Grand Abeona Hotel.

The book is a bit less cozy than I was originally expecting it to be: while the focus of the story is on hope and human connection, the stakes are high throughout, and it's set in an essentially dystopian future under a totalitarian government, with all that entails: murder, famine, death, the destruction of entire planets for the sake of harvesting resources... I would call this less cozy and more hopepunk. The world of the story is a place full of terrible darkness and injustice, but there is hope for a better future to be found in human connection, and in acts of kindness. Curtis oozes charm and humour in this pacey debut, which will be devoured by fans of Fallout and Firefly" Tamsyn Muir Told in a series of vignettes and interludes, the story begins in the future on a ruined, mostly-abandoned Earth. The sparse population that remains struggles to survive in spite of a corrupt justice system, dwindling water supplies, and starvation. Most folk cling to a new religion that worships Gaia—a female planet-god that binds them close to her heart through gravity and an encouraged hatred of technology.Bonus points for the inclusivity in this book! The inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters and disabilities were beautifully interwoven and oh-so natural! It never felt like the author was "trying hard" to show they were creating inclusive characters and there was never a big show around their introductions or presence in the story. Loved! Thank you to DAW Books and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of the book in return for an honest review! I found this book through NetGalley, and the promise of a "cozy debut science fiction novel tells a story of misfits, rebels, found family—and a mystery that spans the stars" was one I couldn't resist. I've been craving some good cosy fiction lately, especially after my recent string of books I didn't enjoy. The cover was really pretty too. You know those science fiction novels in which there are four point-of-view characters, and each character gets point of view for a chapter, then we move on to the next? (I think Gibson's Cyberspace trilogy was the first time I really noticed it.) You know how you never know quite what's going on, and it's all very confusing? Well, in Floating Hotel Grace Curtis takes it to the max, and SOMEHOW, she makes it work! This is a perfect book for a lover of mystery - there are secrets to be unravelled and revealed, and these are happening as we are gradually learning more about the empire in which our characters live. These common threads weave all the parts of the story together and kept me hooked! This is my first book by Grace Curtis so I wasn’t too sure what to expect. This book was so completely different to the books I usually read as it wasn’t about a romantic relationship although there were characters in the book who were in relationships or who liked each other, it didn’t focus solely on one couple and their ups and downs like I’m used to. This book is told from multiple perspectives and did take me a while to get into as there were lots of names to learn and remember which jobs each character was responsible for.

Frontier is a must read for those who enjoy books about space, but also about Earth: saving it, and also recognizing the beauty that already exists. I know I'll be recommending this book to many friends, and will continue to read future novels by Grace Curtis. Frontier is a new post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi Western with an LGBTQ+ love story vein. It’s releasing on February 14, 2023, from Solaris Press. Below is a spoiler-free review. I received this book as an-e-ARC on NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. What is it About? In the distant future most of the human race has fled a ravaged Earth to find new life on other planets. For those who stayed a lawless society remains. Technology has been renounced, and saints and sinners, lawmakers and sheriffs, travelers and gunslingers, abound. As I finished Floating Hotel, I found myself happy to have read it, but with the wish that it had been three books; a cozy slice of life aboard a spaceship, a mystery novel, and a space exploration epic. Referred to only as “The Stranger”, we soon learn that she wants to find a working communication device. She’s desperate to send a message. She needs to find someone who’s gone missing; the woman she loves. Through various adventures, mishaps, detours and standoffs, she makes her way towards a place rumored to have the technology she needs to send her message, in hopes it reaches the ears of the love of her life. And so she keeps moving, any way she can, towards that destination.Darling has to navigate this inhospitable and dangerous world, to find her love. Along the way, we meet a number of different characters. Some in turn become more important than others. We get glimpses into things that on the surface appear one way, but the reality is vastly different.